Glory to God for All Things

Well, yes. I should have posted about this as early as Sunday. But I was offline all weekend, so spent most of yesterday catching up, and on Sunday, this was still too raw to write about:

Chris had an accident at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday.

I hasten to add that he is completely all right, other than being shaken up. This could have been so much worse.

He had been at a party in Concord, NH, about an hour away from both his home and ours, and finally left at 12:45 a.m. The weather was not good; it had been sleeting for most of the evening, and although the snow wasn't sticking to the roads, there was, of course, ice. He was almost home -- maybe about five miles away from home -- when his truck hit a patch of black ice that was covered over by snow and fishtailed. He fought the skid, lost control of his truck, and it spun completely around, went into the westbound lane of the road, flipped over onto its side and righted itself, before coming to rest up against a stone wall.

We were the first people he called -- he wanted us to get him a tow truck -- we told him to call American Automobile Association (figuring he wasn't thinking straight at that point, which he wasn't!), and after we hung up, we debated whether or not he should call the cops. In a one-vehicle accident with no injuries, that's not a requirement in this state; I thought he should, in case the insurance needed a police report, and Jim thought he shouldn't, because the cops would automatically assume he'd been drinking. Just as I called to bring all this up to Chris (thank God for cell phones!), he told us that a cop had just passed him and was turning around to come give him a hand. Well, he didn't even have to take a sobriety test, so I guess he was pretty sober!! (No guessing, actually -- I had asked him that question, and he said he'd had a couple of beers early on, but hadn't had anything to drink for about seven or eight hours. So what did he do for all that time?! This was a science-fiction fan club -- "what do you think, Mom?!" They sat around watching episodes of Firefly, the show they are all so hooked on, and reading their fan fiction to one another!!!)

So, why "Glory to God for all things"? For a number of reasons:

First, of course, is that he is completely unhurt. Spin-outs can end up anyplace, and he said he landed not two feet away from a tree.

Second, that he was smart enough to wear his seat belt. If he hadn't been, he could have been killed when that truck rolled over.

Third, that the thing righted itself. How, I still don't understand, other, of course, than the "obvious to an Orthodox Christian" explanation of his patron saint and/or guardian angel -- and considering that his patron saint is St. Christopher, who was by all accounts a pretty big bruiser of a guy, I'd say St. Christopher had a hand in that!

Fourth, that he was smart enough to stop drinking so early on. That's one thing he's always been fanatic about, drinking and driving; it stood him in good stead this time.

Fifth, that he was going under the speed limit. Considering everything that happened to that truck, the damage was surprisingly minimal; the driver's side door is a little banged up, and a small portion of the truck bed next to the door is dented, but that's all. I was describing the damage to our priest's wife the next day, and she said, "That shows he wasn't going fast." I hadn't thought of that, but it must be one of the things that convinced the cop that he really had spun out on black ice.

And sixth, that he had Amica insurance. You'll never believe this: He had just cancelled his insurance policy two weeks earlier. He'd tried to keep the policy he had in PA, but was told he'd have to cancel that policy and apply for another one, and due to his hours, he hadn't been able to apply for another one. I called Amica on Sunday morning, explained the situation to them, and asked if they couldn't extend some kind of grace period; yesterday, Chris got a call from them asking where the truck was, so an adjuster could come out and look at it. Looks like they're going to do that!!! (Everybody get Amica auto insurance!) ;-)

Well -- he's pretty glum and morose, kicking himself for not staying put in Concord overnight, for ever going in the first place, and a variety of other things. As Jim says, that truck is his pride and joy, and this first accident was probably akin to beating your horse because he doesn't go fast enough. But all things considered -- it could have been so much worse. Glory to God for all things!